Teens toss chemical concoction at Staten Island 7-Eleven, cops say

A group of teens sought revenge after getting tossed from the 7-Eleven at 1600 Forest Ave. in Port Richmond Center, cops allege.

A group of teens kicked out of a 7-Eleven in Staten Island's Port Richmond Center Sunday afternoon decided to get revenge by making a bomb out of a household cleaner and tossing it at the employee who threw them out, authorities allege.

The bomb didn't hit its target, but a 62-year-old woman who walked through the chemical aftermath a few minutes later ended up suffering minor burns on her legs, according to court papers.

Police tracked down one of the teens, 17-year-old Jeffrey Wittek of the 400 block of Decatur Avenue in Willowbrook, the next day, and charged him with felony assault and weapons charges, authorities said.

Wittek and three other teens were hanging out at the 1600 Forest Avenue store Sunday afternoon, when a clerk there recognized a few from their group as regular troublemakers, according to William J. Smith, a spokesman for District Attorney Daniel Donovan.

When the teens started throwing sugar packets on the floor and opening string cheese packages, the clerk told them to leave, and they did, Smith said.

At about 5 p.m., Wittek pulled up to the store in a gray Honda with at least one of his friends, possibly more, inside, Smith said.

They saw the clerk standing outside, and one of them tossed a two-liter soda bottle at him, missing, Smith said.

The clerk saw the bottle expanding rapidly, and backed away before it exploded into a cloud of chemicals and fumes.

The teens then drove off, Smith said, and a few minutes later, before the store's employees had a chance to clean up the mess, a 62-year-old woman walked through the front door.

She suffered what court papers describe as "shin irritations, burning sensations, and [a] rash on or about [her] legs."

Police tracked Wittek through the license plate of his car, and the clerk identified him as one of the assailants, Smith said.

He was arrested today yesterday and charged with first-, third- and fourth--degree criminal possession of a weapon, second-degree assault and two counts of third-degree attempted assault.

He could face between five and 25 years in prison if convicted at trial as an adult on the top charge, or up to four years if he's convicted as a youthful offender.

A law enforcement source said Wittek and his friends got the materials they needed for the makeshift explosive device at a nearby Five-Eleven store not far from the 7-Eleven.

And in a odd twist, the clerk at the 7-Eleven was the same man who earlier this year battled a shoplifter and cracked him in the head with a beer bottle, the source said.

The clerk, Soon Hong, was initially charged with felony assault in connection with the Jan. 13 incident, but Donovan's office dropped the charges in February "in the best interests of justice."